Here's why Usman Khawaja missed his flight to India for Border-Gavaskar Trophy

The long-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy is all set to begin on February 9, when the first game of the four-match test series will take place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. The Australian team was scheduled to take flights to India on Tuesday.

As per the schedule, all the team players and support staff travelled to India, but only the Pakistan-born Australian opener, Usman Khawaja, couldn't board his flight due to a visa delay issue. His visa to travel to India was not cleared.

Reacting to that, the 36-year-old took to his official social media handle and posted a meme. He wrote, "Me waiting for my Indian Visa like... #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow,"

Me waiting for my Indian Visa like... #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow https://t.co/pCGfagDyC1

— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) February 1, 2023

Khawaja is a key member of the Australian team and has done tremendously well in the last year or so. So far, he has represented Australia in 56 Tests, 40 ODIs, and nine T20s and was also part of the Indian Premier League way back in 2016. On Monday, he also won "Australia's Test Player of the Year,", the award named after legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne.

The Aussies have a four-day camp on the outskirts of Bengaluru ahead of the first test. After coming to their camp, they will move to the first test location in Nagpur. The first game is scheduled to take place between February 9 and February 13. The other venues to host the remaining three games are Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmedabad.

It is an important series for the hosts as it is their last series in the ongoing World Test Championship. They are currently in second place in the WTC table and need to win the BGT series by a margin of 3-1 or 3-0 to make it to the WTC final.

Meanwhile, Australia is almost through the final and needs to win just one game from the next four to qualify. After the four-match test series, both teams will play three ODIs, starting on March 17 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.